Trump Heads to U.N. Seeking Wins After a Rough Week

President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to showcase unilateral U.S. military and diplomatic actions, seeking momentum on the world stage after a politically difficult stretch at home. Speaking to world leaders in New York, Trump cast the United States as a decisive power willing to act while other nations hesitate, according to NPR.

The roughly 37-minute speech, delivered as the second leader to speak after Brazil’s president by tradition, came less than two months before U.S. midterm elections and amid approval ratings below 40%. It also followed a week of mounting domestic controversy, including the administration’s ban of several news outlets from the White House and a subsequent lawsuit.

A Speech Built on U.S. Power

Trump opened by touting the U.S. economy, his immigration policy and a drop in violent crime, framing American strength as a global benefit. “The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America,” he said.

From there, the address ranged across a series of conflicts and initiatives, reflecting a broad and confrontational foreign policy vision.

On Iran, Trump defended the war the U.S. and Israel launched in late February and reissued threats against Tehran. “I hope the Europeans realize that Iran’s goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield,” he said. According to CNBC, he said he is poised to make a “big decision” on whether to strike a deal or quickly “annihilate” the country, and predicted an agreement would come “right after” the November midterms.

Trump also called Cuba an “absolutely failed state” and signaled support for regime change there. As he spoke, the Cuban delegation stood up and left the hall, CNBC reported. He described drug cartels as “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere” and said Mexico must “reclaim control of its soil.”

On Venezuela, Trump highlighted the January U.S. military raid that captured former President Nicolás Maduro and the subsequent oil agreement with interim President Delcy Rodríguez. “When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world,” he said. “It was a war, but it’s perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils.”

On the sidelines, Trump signed what he called an “unprecedented agreement” with Denmark and Greenland, saying it gives the U.S. “permanent control over security” of the territory and that the U.S. will build two “very major” military bases there. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the deal “respects the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as Greenland’s right to self-determination.” Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said it was “not only an agreement about us, but an agreement with us.”

The president also called on all members of the International Criminal Court to resign, labeling it a “rogue institution,” and weighed in on artificial intelligence. Rejecting what he called a “globalist scheme” to regulate the technology, he said the U.S. would lead on what he now prefers to call “super intelligence.” “We will only encourage super intelligence,” he said. “We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.”

The Guardian reported that Trump also said he was “working closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine” to end the war, and that he had signed “a powerful new law” on sanctions. “It’s time to stop the killing,” he said.

A Rough Week at Home

The address came after a turbulent stretch in Washington. Late last week, Trump abruptly announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing them of reporting “FICTION and LIES.” On Monday, the three outlets sued the administration, arguing the ban violated their First Amendment rights.

In solidarity, several major television networks suspended their White House pool coverage. According to the Guardian, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC stopped participating, after which the White House promoted its own online feed branded “Trump TV.” The decision is extremely rare — network cameras have covered the president since 1950 — and meant that on Monday, no broadcast outlet covered a White House event, leaving the president’s remarks inaudible over a helicopter engine.

At the U.N. itself, Trump confronted the dispute directly. When a CNN reporter noted the United Nations had admitted the network, Trump replied, “You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t gonna cover me, you shouldn’t be covering me.”

Analysts said the episode underlined the degree to which the week’s diplomacy may be overshadowed by domestic politics.

The U.N.’s Shifting Role

Much of Trump’s diplomacy is unfolding on the sidelines rather than on the General Assembly floor. He is expected to meet with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Gulf leaders and Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez.

That emphasis reflects the changing role of the institution, said Richard Fontaine of the Center for a New American Security. “The meat of the diplomacy will be done in the private meetings, not at the U.N. Security Council or in the U.N. General Assembly,” he said.

A separate dynamic is the counter-programming of Trump’s week: Chinese President Xi Jinping is skipping the U.N. gathering and will instead travel to Washington for a state dinner. Heather Conley of the American Enterprise Institute noted that “the world will not be looking towards New York on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. They’re going to be looking at Washington.”

Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group described the effect as “a bit of a split-screen moment,” in which leaders of smaller countries address “a pretty empty General Assembly hall” while great-power diplomacy happens elsewhere — itself “a message about where power really lies.”

The General Assembly’s high-level week runs through Sept. 28. Iran’s president is expected to speak Wednesday, and Secretary-General António Guterres, delivering his final high-level week before his term ends, has pushed for de-escalation in the Middle East and a ceasefire in Ukraine — efforts U.N. watchers say are unlikely to yield major breakthroughs, NPR reported.

What to Watch

Trump’s team is framing this week as a chance for diplomatic wins, but several open questions remain. Whether the Iran “deal or annihilate” ultimatum produces a concrete negotiating track, or remains rhetorical, is uncertain. How the Greenland agreement’s security provisions will be implemented — and where Denmark and Greenland draw the limits of U.S. control — is also unresolved. And the legal fight over the White House press ban could produce a significant First Amendment precedent.

For now, the speech accomplished at least one thing its author seemed to seek: it put the president back at the center of the global stage, even as the world’s attention increasingly turns to Washington.